I caught a show on PBS (NOVA) the other night about global dimming (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sun). Apparently pollution causes clouds to be more dense which has a cooling effect that is actually masking the true degree of global warming. The reduction of air pollutants combined with an increase of CO2 emissions, which is the path we are currently, on is potentially disastrous in terms of global warming. The conservative estimates are a 10 degree Fahrenheit temperature increase over the next century. One scientist predicts a 20 degree Fahrenheit temperature increase over the next century.
The program also intimated that pollution from Europe and North America was responsible for the Ethiopian famine of the eighties. The summer monsoon for that part of the world is caused by warm ocean temperatures. Polluted clouds kept the ocean temperatures down which meant the monsoon didn't come for 10+ years or something like that. The drought and ensuing famine impacted 50 million people.
Global warming comes up in the news just about every day now. The projections for the impact of global warming include a famine that could effect billions of people. "Major funding for NOVA is provided by Google and BP."
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